Giraffes, Elephants, Villages and Dancers

Kibera slum.

African scooter madness.

Feeding time at the Giraffe Centre.

Some of the elephant orphans at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Orphan Project.

A baboon taking advantage of the height of the building for an observation platform.

One of the native village reconstructions.

Tribal dancers.

Saturday, September 30th.

I slept reasonably well and woke up about seven. I went for the included breakfast which was amazing, they had everything that you could want for either breakfast or lunch. I had dry cereal, which is usually the staple of my breakfast, for the first time since England. Then I discovered oatmeal! I also had yogourt and fresh fruit.

After that I went to the lobby and asked if I had to change rooms that night and she said yes because I would be getting a room mate. Then I asked about getting some money. I needed some American to take the tours that Patrick offered yesterday on the drive from the airport, and I figured I needed some Kenyan shillings as well. The doorman, David, offered to show me where to go to the Forex (foreign exchange). He walked me through the hotel grounds to an exit at the rear that led through security again and to a mall across the street. He walked me to a bank in the basement where they said they could not issue money on my credit card and the woman told me that there was an ATM upstairs that would issue American dollars. We went up to that and there were two with a short line of people waiting. When it was my turn I went to the one on the right but it did not give me the option of US$, so I thought she was mistaken, but when I tried the one on the left it offered both US$ and Kenyan shillings; problem solved. Then David walked me back.

So at 9:00 I met up with Patrick in the lobby and joined a group of four other people (a young American couple from Chicago, Bryan and Kristin and an English couple David and Jill who are on my NatGeo tour tomorrow) for some day tours.

We drove for about an hour through the crazy Nairobi traffic. We drove past the Kibera slum. According to Wikipedia, this is the largest slum in Nairobi and the largest urban slum in Africa. There are approximately 1.2 million people living there in an area of 2.5 square kilometres. 75% of the population are under 18 and 100 000 children living there are orphaned.

On the way I saw a number of passengers (the driver usually wore one) on motorbikes without helmets and asked if helmets were compulsory. Patrick said that they were but these are motorcycle taxis and the problem is that although the driver brings an extra helmet some passengers are reluctant to put it on after other people with dirty hair have. But if they are caught the police will arrest them and take them to the police station, where they will have to wait for a court date which could take a day or two!

We also saw a lot of 'clean water' tankers by the side of the roads and Patrick explained that the city is growing so fast that they can't keep up with the water supply. So if your house doesn't get water you need to call one of these tankers and they will come and fill your water tank.

We arrived at our first stop, the Giraffe Centre, about five kilometres outside of Nairobi. This is a breeding facility. We had a presentation explaining the differences between the three main giraffe species in Kenya, the Maasai, the Reticulated and the Rothschild or white stockinged giraffe. The Rothschild is in serious decline and they breed them here and release them back into the wild. We had the opportunity to hand feed them some dried grass chips. It was interesting to see the long black tongue remove the chip from your fingers. Some people were putting it in their mouths, but when I saw the slobber and tongue, I declined. We watched fed them for a bit and watched as they walked through the forest. They had a new born the day before and it is already six feet tall!

After that we drove a short distance to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Orphan Project. This is housed inside the Nairobi National Park, which was Kenya's first park and established in 1946. It is located approximately 7 kilometres south of the city and the city skyscrapers can be seen from it. It is surrounded by an electric fence to keep animals and people seperate. Patrick told us that despite its proximity to civilization and relative small size for an African national park it boasts a large and varied wildlife population, including lions and Kenya's most successful rhinoceros sanctuary.

The Sheldrick Project is an orphanage for baby elephants which they raise and then release. We watched at two groups of 14 baby elephants were led out to a play area consisting of a muddy pool and a dirt area for blowing dust on their backs to act as sunscreen and bug repellent. As we watched a guide told us of the their individual histories. When the elephants came out the rushed to their handlers who had large bottles of baby formula to feed them. They were lots of fun to watch as they rolled and splashed in the water.  

The next stop was the Bomas Museum which is 'dedicated to preserving Kenyas rich and diverse cultures'. First we went to the restaurant where they made traditional meals. I had a stew type meat dish that was a bit chewy but very good. Then we walked around a large outside exhibit of the various types of Kenyan tribal villages. There were 23 different set up all on a general pattern. They were made of wood sticks, grass and or mud and cow dung. The tribes were all polygamous and their was a hut for the husband, one for each of his wives (getting smaller for each successive one), one for unmarried sons, and another for a married son, one for a grandmother and a grainary. Our guide explained some of the intricacies of tribal life.

Then we went to a large circular auditorium and watched about ten different tribal dance demonstrations that were all variations on a theme of drums, and male and or female dancers. Most were quite good. The final act was an acrobatic troupe of about eight men. They were amazing. They had the tumbling skills of the Olympians and the pyramid tricks of Ringling Brothers Circus performers and the limbo skills of the Polynesians. I'm not sure what that had to do with tribal dancing but it was incredible.

From there we drove back to the hotel just in time for our six o'clock meeting with our safari guide. His name is Joseph and our driver will be Morris. He spent about a half hour with us. David, Jill and I were joined by Alan and Blaize from Vancouver, and apparently my room mate Chris will join us in the morning.

Then the five of us went for dinner in the hotel restaurant and swapped travel stories. Finally back to the room where I talked by Skype to my parents.  

Qatar to Nairobi

The train from one terminal to the next.

Back to the craziness of sub Saharan Africa.

Friday, September 29^th

I had a couple of hours to hang around the airport Haman Aiport in Qatar before the next leg. The airport was amazingly large, new and modern. It h ad five terminals and all the name brand shops you would expect. I was going to buy a book called Worth Dying For, the Power and Politics of Flags by Tim Marshall, the same author who wrote the Prisoners of Geography which I am reading now. Maybe next airport.

I boarded the flight at 8:30 am and when I checked on the TV screen to see our flight route, the first thing I read was: For your personal safety stay in your seat when praying.

The flight was again long and I travelled another 4500 kilometres. Just before we landed there was an announcement that said that we were not allowed to bring any plastic bags into the country and advised us that if we had plastic bags (duty free for example) we could be fined.

I crossed the equator and arrived in Nairobi by 2:20pm. I am now in the southern hemsiphere. Going through customs was easy with the electronic visa I obtained a couple of months ago. When I emerged from the airport there was a woman there with my name on a sign and she took me to a van where I a driver was waiting. He was a very friendly guy who told me that it would take a while to get to my hotel because traffic in Nairobi is crazy. He wasn't kidding. Traffic is on the other side of the road now. We left the airport on a two lane road and I could see a congested three lane highway to our left and in between there were cars driving on a dirt part. All those lanes merged into two lanes. It took forever. I had forgotten how crazy this part of Africa is. Morocco has nothing on this, by comparison it looks normal. This is more like the chaos of Ghana. There are people everywhere with stalls or mini shops all along the roads, cows wandering in traffic, bicycles, scooters, cars beeping horns and garbage everywhere. You can see why they are banning plastic bags. This is not a place where I would want to walk around alone.

En route the driver, Patrick, told me about a couple of optional tours I could take the next day that sounded very interesting. All I needed was some sleep.  

The traffic was horrible getting to the hotel and the driver took a different route to get us there faster, it still took over two and a half hours to arrive at the Jacaranda Hotel. This is a very nice hotel complete with a doorman, a metal security screener at the entrance, a nice restaurant, a bar and a large pool. I have my own room for the night as I am I night early. It has a king size, comfortable bed.

I was exhausted and not very hungry because of the lousy food I had on the plane, so I did a bit on the computer and then went to the desk to ask if I had to change rooms tomorrow, and the lady said yes because I would be getting a room mate. Then I went to bed really early.

Reflections on Morocco Then and Now

The Berber flag.

Berber writing which goes left to right unlike Arabic.

My new necklace - the Berber symbol which is the Z in their alphabet.

A funky washroom in one of our guesthouses.

Wim and I.

The group including Rachid in his traditional clothing.

Here are some random thoughts on the trip to Morocco:

The whole time I have been travelling through Morocco I have been reflecting on how the country is the same or different from 1979. I really didn't know what to expect before I left but I have noticed a lot of things since I arrived. It crystallized when we were approaching Marrakech and the first thing I noticed was a large water theme park just off the highway. Now that is something different, I certainly didn't expect that.

Morocco is a country in transition from the past to the modern world. Everywhere there are signs of progress, however, as with most countries in the world the gap between rich and poor is widening. It seems to me that rural areas are changing more slowly than the cities where growth and advancement is huge. Probably a lot of the youth of the rural areas have migrated to the cities to find work.

Morocco receives thousands of tourists every month and they have gotten more tolerant of the tourists and their dress codes. Many still don't like their photos taken but they are getting used to that too. I found the majority of Moroccans to be tolerant or friendly to tourists. The ones who work directly with the tourist industry are very friendly because they know that is where their bread is buttered.

Moroccan food is delicious, but seems to suffer from a lack of diversity. They don't have the same multicultural cuisine that the west now has. The traditional meals are still tajines, which are stews of different meats and vegetables or couscous with fish, lamb, beef or chicken. As a result we got a bit tired of the menu. And after all of us got sick at some point, we were suspicious of salads, teas and fruits. I remember the traditional Moroccan tea as being mint tea with lots of sugar. Now you can still get mint tea but there is no sugar in it unless you ask for it. I asked Rachid about this and he said it was because of oral hygiene awareness and diabetes. In some of the tourist hotels they offer different tourist food like pizzas and burgers. And in the cities the American junk food restaurants have arrived, McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried and Starbucks.

They have men in yellow vests who help people park in tight spots on the roads. I think it also solves arguments. I couldn't work out if they did it for tips are not.

In the van the first day we were reading a Lonely Planet guidebook and it stated that about 20% of the country's income comes from tourism and that about the same percentage of people work in some aspect of the tourist service industry. It also said that unemployment in the youth is at about 45% and in a recent survey over 50% of the young people said they would emigrate if they had the opportunity. The youth age group is the one that is changing the most and accepting western ways. They all have cellphones and most wear westernized clothing, especially in the cities.

In the rural areas there are still many people, especially the older generation, wearing traditional clothing. In the cities the older generation is changing too. Where you do see more traditional clothing other than rural areas is in the medinas and souks.

When I was here years ago, I found the medinas and souks dark, mysterious and slightly intimidating and the vendors were very aggressive. Inside there were many different types of artisans plying their trades and making all manner of things. Today by contrast, the vendors are much more polite and will take a 'no thank you' reasonably well and will sometimes even wish you a good day or say 'you're welcome'. However, I saw very few artisans, except in areas where the government is sponsoring schools or shops that are maintaining the arts. I think that in most shops the product they are selling has been mass produced somewhere else, probably offshore and that many of the stalls are owned by a few people who hire people to man the stalls. I wonder how many people sit in these stalls trying to sell crap and not making any money all day.

There are cats everywhere. They are very important to Moroccan people. I even found one in my departure lounge at Marrakech airport. There are some dogs too, but not many. I watched as many people fed the cats, especially people in Essaouri who would provide them with fresh sardines. I would imagine that they help to keep down mice and rat populations as well.

The cities are becoming quite modern with lots of cars and other traffic like scooters, bicycles but there is still room for a number of donkey carts. Casablanca has a very modern street car line and they are building a high speed rail line from Casablanca to Marrakech and Essaouira that will collapse the travel time from overnight to just a few hours.

They get most of their energy from hydroelectric power but recently their reservoirs have been going down and they see the need for other sources. As a result the Moroccan government is joining the renewable energy business as well and is building the largest solar power facility in Africa which will supply a significant percentage of their power. They also have a number of turbine farms to supply energy to certain areas.

The weather has been mostly hot with sunny blue skies. We did have a little cooler weather in the High Atlas Mountains and on the coast in Essaouira we had overcast humid weather in the high 20's. The first day in Marrakech was the same but then the sky cleared and the temperature went up in the mid afternoon to mid 30's.

Many areas in the Sahara and Atlas Mountains have lots of fossils and minerals for sale. There are stands and vendors everywhere trying to sell fossils of trilobites and other ancient shell animals.

I asked Rachid what he thought the country needed to take the next step. His answer was good education for children. He said the country needs to better train their teachers and to fund education more fully in order for the children to progress. The literacy rate is still lower than world averages.

I also asked him if there was an worry about Morocco joining the Arab Spring of 2010. He said no because the king has the power centrally located unlike other countries like Egypt where the army has its own power. He said that people are aware and becoming a bit resentful of the wealth of the king. Each of one of the four imperial cities has a palace, at least one of which is large enough to house an 18 hole golf course on the grounds. The people are beginning to question why the king needs so many palaces, especially when for example, Marrakech and Essaouira are only a few hours apart. It remains to be seen anything will come of it.

All in all, this was an amazing trip. Rachid was an amazing guide and the trip offered a wide variety of activities that show cased Morocco in a number of different lights, including the old and the new. We visited most regions and many different environments and we got to mingle with the locals in the small guesthouses, trains and in the medinas. Great trip.

From Marrakech to Qatar

 More shots from the souks around the square.

Fresh fruit stands: oranges, mango, pomegranate, lemon, lime and apple.

The very modern Marrakech Aiport

Thursday, September 28^th.

Today I just hung out at the hotel enjoying a good breakfast and my own room. I got an e-mail saying that Don Gray is not well, so I am thinking of him and wishing him well. I worked on the computer and got some things done.

I went for a short walk around the neighbourhood before having some lunch at the hotel. Then I waited in the lobby for my transfer to the airport. While I was waiting the mailman showed up at the hotel in a nice uniform and a shiny new Post Maroc blue and yellow scooter.

The shuttle picked me up at 4:00 and drove me and two other passengers to the very modern Marrakech airport that is pretty much in the city. I checked in and had a couple of hours to wait. The flight boarded at 7:00. It was a long flight and I couldn't get any sleep. I watched a couple of movies: A Beautiful Mind, A Great Year and a BBC show on the Galapagos. After flying almost 7000 kilometres we arrived in Daho, Qatar at 5:30 am where it is now two hours ahead of yesterday.

Chilling in Marrakech

 Trappings of the modern world.

 Fish counter.

 A typical new city area.

 Rental bikes.

 Wim and the rebuilt city wall.

 And trappings of the old world.

 The square being transformed into the eating stalls.

 Snake charmers milling around.

 The stalls filling up.

 Raptor anyone?

Fishing for a bottle.

Wednesday, September 27^th.

The tour ends today and most people are leaving today. Jonathan and Joanne are staying for another night but in a more upscale hotel; Andrew is off to Madrid for a day to or before flying back to Melbourne; Trish, Theresa and Kate are taking an overnight train to Casablanca and then continuing their holidays in Spain for a few weeks; Elisa is flying home to Vancouver via Amsterdam; Tara is also off to Amsterdam for a few days before ending her holidays in Ireland. That leaves Wim and I who have both booked an extra night here in the Caspien Hotel, which means we get our own rooms tonight. We said our goodbyes to Rachid last night and he is off to start another tour this evening.

Today I spent the morning on the computer updating things. I talked to Denise for a little bit and we crossed a few t's and dotted a few i's so that everything is organized for the next couple of months in southern Africa. I also talked to John briefly who called on Skype, but the connection was pretty weak. Hung around the lobby talking to people as they were organizing to leave.

At noon I went for a walk to the main street in this the new part of town. I found a new shopping mall not unlike anything you would find in North America, complete with air-conditioning and brand name shops. I explored a big modern grocery store that had all the usual stuff plus a big smelly fish counter with a variety of truly large whole fish. I bought some yogurt, bananas and apples for the next couple of days. Then I returned to the hotel.

At four, Wim and I walked the half hour to the mosque, the minaret and the square. We wandered around through the souks again as he was looking for a souvenir baseball cap. Then we went up to the terrace of the Argana Glacier Restaurant and had a drink while soaking up the sights and sounds of the square. This was the site of the bombing on April 28, 2011, at the height of the Arab Spring, that killed 17 people, mostly tourists, by a bomb left in a bag which destroyed the restaurant. It has been completely rebuild and restored with modern washrooms and even a metal detector at the door, which everyone walks around.

After that we walked around the square watching the goings on and observing things. Two new wrinkles today: an old man with a raptor chained to a wire mesh cage with pigeons inside, who charged people for photos of it on their shoulder and a guy who had about twenty people using poles with a little circle attached to a string who were trying to lasso an upright pop bottle. I couldn't work out what the prize or the point of it was. It made me think how long it would be before they got more games of chance here, and maybe amusement rides?

We also watched the transformation of the big empty area of the square as it was converted by dozens of men into the myriad of small eating barbeques that we saw the other night. As the evening wore on and they had been set up we watching as they tried to encourage people to eat at their stall and if they were successful then the people who worked there would clap and shout their approval and welcome of the new diners.

When we finally tired of this we walked back to the hotel. We sat at the bar, had a couple of drinks and watched a soccer match while I had a penne and chicken dinner. I fell to talking to a large Dutchman and his wife who were from Alkmaar, a town I visited in 1979. Wim was feeling poorly and we headed off to our separate rooms by about 10.